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Saturday, October 31, 2015

...to you and yours from me and mine! I hope you all have a fun, safe day celebrating this beautiful time of year. I just wanted to share with you a quick (to prep, at least) craft you can show your little ones and create with the older ones if you have a little down time today.

Apple Shrunken Heads! Yeah, this is about as scary as it gets around here. In fact, mine just turned out looking like a cheerful elderly lady!

Basically, you peel the area you want for your face, then peel a small hole on the back side for excess fluid to escape. With a small knife, etch out a simple face (hollow eyes, leave the nose the brows and nose highest, make the mouth wide or just a line) Don't forget to scratch in a few of the deep wrinkles! I only did a few on the forehead and at the corners of the eyes.

Then pop them in the oven at a low temp until they have reached sufficient shrunkeness! I did 275 for about 3 hours.

After they have cooled enough, you can take two apple seeds from another apple and push them in by their points for the eyes. Then just set about as décor!

Monday, October 26, 2015

Can you believe October is almost over!?I know I do this every month, but WOW!We have just been enjoying every moment to
the max and I think that makes time move at a quicker clip.One of the highlights of this week was doing
an apple u-pick across the road and getting a TON more apples!Such a great time made even better by sharing
the experience with friends (a few more photos on my Instagram growwildmychild).I bring this up to let you know I’ve added
(and will likely soon add more) recipes to my apple round up post from earlier
this season including apple scones and apple sauce!

Our second great adventure happened this week when my
beloved got an extra day off work and took us to the mountains!!!Oh man, the mountains are my place.Do you have somewhere that, just by being
there, you can literally feel yourself recharging and being inspired!I think it’s different for everyone, but for
me it comes from the majesty of the mountains.

And I think this little one and I are like minded

I think it’s important to get to these places as often as possible
(maybe through mental imagery if not physically?) and that we need these
moments of getting away to refocus and remember the Almighty Creator.He knew we would need these wild spaces to
discover!I love how several times in
the Bible (Matthew 5:8, 14:23, 15:29, 17:1) it mentions how even Jesus took
time to go out into the wilderness alone or just with his closest friends.Of all the things Jesus exemplified to us, I
don’t think this seemingly small act should be overlooked.Nature proclaims the glory of God!

Now, hiking with little wildlings may not always be such a rejuvenating
experience.What I’m about to write is
mostly my learned-the-hard-way lessons!But when we started having children, I began to wonder if our
bush-whacking, mountain climbing, woods-wandering days were on hold until they
were much older.And to be honest, we
did cut back for a bit (partially because of the Alaskan winters), but I’ve
learned some ways to get out with the little ones in ways that everyone can
have a wonderful time, do some exploring, soak up the grandeur, learn so many
new things that we might not at home, and make memories together.

1.Getting there:before I had children, I just thought that all little ones would just
fall asleep in the car.Boy, was I
wrong!Both our children HATED car rides
and would often scream. The.Entire.Drive…Needless to say, this is quite stressful and
does not make fora refreshing day for
anyone.Honestly, we did everything to
keep our car rides to a minimum those first years (life got better with forward
facing car seats).So, I’m just going to
be real and let you know that we tried to find things that were as close as
possible and went just because we knew we needed to!There are many great resources to keep
little ones entertained in the car (several in this list), but I think a CD of silly songs we put together was the best remedy
for our babies.And any snacks or drinks
possible, especially if you’re doing any elevation change and ear-popping needs
to happen.I kept thinking they must get
car sick and now I wonder if there’s any way to diffuse peppermint or something
that might help with that?Hm, just a
thought.

2.Tiny Legs:we’ve been trying to keep to the trails that are pretty short (less than 3 miles) partially
for their little legs trying to keep up and also just knowing ahead of time
that we’re probably going to be carrying them for portions, depending on their
ages.If you go in expecting that, you
can be better prepared.Think about what
shoes they wear, if they can ride in a back pack or carrier or just your arms?

3.Realistic Hikes: you know your kids and what
they’re going to be capable of.Or if
you’re not sure, start with shorter paths and work your way up.Trail heads should all have a sign that the
start that will give you an idea of the trail’s length and difficulty.Or check out everytrail.comIt lists all the trails in your area and
gives these details as well.

4.Permit Rests:Depending on the age of your little ones, frequent rest (or just
distraction) breaks should be expected.When hiking alone, I tend to want to see the sights on the way, but
basically keep moving and get to where I’m going.I think this is where it is beneficial to have
children with you because they make you stop and notice things differently.Give yourself permission to take breaks with
them and really observe things that they find interesting. This is where so much spontaneous education can occur!We found a bouncing branch and a tree root
slide that never would have caught our attention had we been walking alone! =)

5.Bare necessities: exploring can be hard work,
especially if your legs are barely a foot long!Don’t forget to pack a few snacks (for sustenance and incentive!) and
plenty of water.Dress in (or pack in)
layers.Even if it feels fine at the
trailhead, some areas can be windy or cooler (near flowing water or ice?)And a couple band-aids (yeah, wish I had
brought those!)

6.If cries happen, it’s okay.It keeps the bears away.We ended up reaching our first hike right
about nap time and our little one had about 15 minutes of bellowing.I figured she’d either fall asleep or get
over it (it was oneof those cries) and
she decided to keep on trucking and see one more waterfall!

Then just soak it all in and enjoy your time together!Actually, on our way home, the kids were
crashed in the back seat as the sun was setting and we came upon a waterfall
just off the road.Josh and I took turns
running down the hill to experience it while the other waited with the
tuckered tykes.For all the joys of
hiking with the littles, I must say, if you get a moment to yourself among a
sight like this, TAKE IT!There’s
something powerful and calming about being alone in nature, even just for a
minute.Then go back to enjoying those
with you and treasure the moments in your heart!

“For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the
mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the
trees of the field shall clap their hands.”Isaiah 55:12

Thursday, October 22, 2015

The Toddler Sweetie Slipper was such a hit in our house,
it’s been necessary to adjust the pattern to an adult size! I love mine because
they don’t slide around or slouch at the ankle, and they’re just thick and
cozy!When we were in Alaska, my sweet
husband got me my silver fox and beaver pelt slippers that are SUPER warm and
soft!I wore the often up there, though
they are a tad big.But I just found out
that I can wear these crocheted slippers inside them if, you know, it’s -20 and
the power goes out.My feet would still
be warm.These whip up really fast and are gender-neutral, so
they make great gifts, too!There may or may not be a few of my family
members receiving these for Christmas =)

You may not choose to do it exactly like this and that’s
GREAT!This is just a good starting
point, but feel free to adjust, tweak, and embellish to your heart’s
content!You may notice in some of my
photos that one of the yarn colors will change seemingly sporadically.Some of these are intentional (adding the
fluffy navy around the cuff of the blue pair) and some are for the simple
reason that I was using this project to whittle down my ever increasing yarn
stash and it WORKED!Using two yarn s at
a time makes these slippers thick and warm, but it’s also a great stash buster
for all those odd leftover pieces.If
you don’t mind a new color halfway down your foot.Maybe you’ll chose to switch colors there intentionally!

Note: To get the texture I wanted, I only crocheted into the
back loop of each space.You could do a
regular stitch, but may have to adjust the sizing a little. This pattern fits a women's size 7-10

With two yarns of choice for foot:

Magic Ring of 6 sc.Join with sl st and tighten ends.Ch2

Round 2: 2dc in each st around.Join with sl st.Ch2

Round 3:(dc in next
sp, 2dc in next sp) around.Join with sl
st.Ch2

This is about five stitches into round 4

Round 4: (dc in next 2 sp, 2 dc in next sp) around.Join with sl st.Ch2

Round 4 complete

Round 5: (dc in next 3 sp, 2 dc in next sp) aroud.Join with sl st.Ch2

Rounds 6-8: Dc in each sp around.Join with sl st. Ch 2

Rounds 9: (dc in next 7, dc2tog) around.Join with sl st.ch 2

Rounds 10-11: Dc in each sp around.Join with sl st. Ch 2

*Note:This is one
place you can add a couple more rounds for individuals with particularly long
feet.

Row 1:Ch2 2, Dc in
each of next 10 sp.2Dc in next sp.Dc in next 10 sp (should be about ¾ of the
way around).Turn.

Row 1 complete

Rows 2-7:Ch2 2, Dc
in each of next 10 sp.2Dc in next
sp.Dc in each sp to end.Turn.

Row 7 complete

*Note: This is another place you can add more rows for a
larger size.

Turn the heel inside out and slip stitch seam down the back.Turn right side out.

Still open along the back before seam. Excuse my little helper's arm =)

﻿

Still inside out after having finished the seam

With two yarns of choice for ankle:

Round 1: Join with sl st to top of heel in the back.Ch 2.Dc in each sp across to corner where the side meets the top of
foot.Dc2 tog.Dc in each sp across top of foot.DC 2 tog at opposite corner.DC in each sp around ankle and sl st to join
with start.Ch2.

Round 2-3: (Dc in each of the next 5 sp.2 Dc in next sp) around.Join with sl st.Ch2

Done!Well, you might
want to start from the beginning again so you end up with a pair. =)But you get the idea.Now your toes will be ready for the cold (or
holiday) season! If you have any questions or notice any problems with the pattern, please shoot me a message. Thanks!Happy creating!

Monday, October 19, 2015

A friend and I were just laughing earlier this week about
being spontaneous when it comes to planning outings.Instead of specifically setting aside a time
in the future to do a specific thing I’ve researched and want to do, I tend to
just be going along with life and happen across a patch of time.Time that maybe should be used doing
something productive, but, sometimes we just need to get out there and
adventure!So I’ll say, “Hey!Let’s go somewhere!” And I’ll either quickly
google what’s close or pile the kids in the car and just see where the road
takes us.

Usually this ends up with awesomeness.But sometimes we strike out.

We had several strike outs this week as we traveled the
central section of the Oregon Coast. But also had a whole lot of awesome!While my husband was working out there, we got to join up with him and
at least share evenings together.My
parents came down for those couple days, too, and we had such a great time just
being together, despite any surrounding circumstances.

Pros:

1.Unexpected Treasures: this is how I felt the
first day of our trip when we had a little extra time and randomly pulled off
at a botanical area.It turned out that
right off the highway was a cobra-lilly (pitcher plant) bog!The concept of an insect-eating plant was so
foreign to the little ones and our eldest thought these gorgeous plants a
highlight of our trip!We also
accidently found a great rocky beach, Whale and marine life museum, and pirate
village!

2.Save time planning

3.No pressure to keep a rigid schedule (Unless
that’s your thing.Then this might be a
con!=))

Eaten by a shark at the Whale Museum in Depoe Bay

Cons:

1.Really, the main down-side and that is that
sometimes things don’t work out.We
drove for miles down a road for there to be nothing there.My parents nearly couldn’t find a campsite
one night. The map apps for phones are great, but often have inaccurate
information.We didn’t make it to a
couple places until after they had closed or simply ran out of time to cram all
the sights in.

What was down that path?

2.Wondering what you might have possibly missed

My advice from our experiences would be to plan out where
you will be sleeping each night and make reservations if possible for
multiple-day trips.That takes the
pressure off so you can just explore the day away.Look for the brown signs (parks, natural or
cultural areas) or quirky shops for a more unique experience.If you have time, look up what might be
around, or grab a tourist map once there.If there’s something that’s really important for you to see, plan how and
when it will fit into your adventures. Veer off the main highways as much as
possible.Don’t stress about what you
might have missed and focus on all the good things that you got to experience
as well as just the time together.Even
on our dud detours we saw things we’d never seen before and traveled roads we’d
never been on before!

In some ways I feel that spontaneous adventures are more
difficult than in the past.So much has
been regulated with specific hours and tolls.Certain places have become so popular you have to fight the crowds.As far as camping, you can’t just pull off
any old place to stop, it has to be designated and paid for.But then, there are many benefits to
exploring today.Especially having the
internet at our fingertips (so long as you have signal!) and well-marked
interest areas.

Hollow log slide at the falls

Can I just share with you what we did end up doing?Then if you ever get a chance to visit the
area, you might remember some things you might want to check out!

1.Sweet Creek Falls: about 10 miles off the
highway on an ever narrowing road.Perhaps a mile hike in to a lovely little falls.There are many more surrounding, but we chose
to only go to the one.

2.Darlingtonia Botanical Area: This was right off
101 and was a very short walk to the carnivorous plant bog.

3.Bob Creek: small, sandy beach I loved because of
how misty it was.Rocky tide pools to
the south were void of much sea life.

4.Newport Pirate Village: We arrived in town too
late for the aquarium, but this pirate village next door was right up our
little ones’ alley.

5.Newport Docks: Our son had been asking to see
boats, and I knew we’d find some when I saw the docks sign past the
aquarium.So fun to explore, read ship
names, and learn about the different types of boats.Once (on a past adventure) the captain of a
fishing boat let my husband and son on board to explore!There are often many marine birds around,
too.

6.Echo Falls Detour: this was our major strike
out.Even when we circled back a couple
times to see if we could find what the map was trying to show us, the falls (or
any type of trailhead) was nowhere to be found.So we just followed to road to 10 miles to see what was there.Lovely drive in the fog.

7.Depoe Bay Whale Museum:I was surprised how much my kids enjoyed
this!We were the only ones there and
the hostess totally catered to the little ones, asked them questions and really
got them involved.

8.Yaquina Head Light House and Tide Pool Beach:
this is the only place we ended up going to that had a fee ($7 for a vehicle) to get in.They have a nice interpretive center, but we
moved through there rather quickly since it was nearing nap time.Before we explored, we parked where we could
look out over the ocean while we ate a quick lunch.While we were sitting there, a pod of grey
whales swam past! It was so amazing and the kids were so excited!Our little guy was trying to tell everyone
and exclaimed to me incredulously, “Mom! All those people over there don’t even see the
whales!They’re not looking around!They don’t even know what a wonderful thing
they’re missing!”I love it when he just
gets it like that!

All this to say, I highly recommend the spontaneous
exploration mentality!I hope this will
encourage you to give it a try sometime and take a chance that might result in
you discovering a hidden treasure of a location!

About Me

Hi! I am a born-and-raised NW Washintonian, schooled in Oregon, became a nurse and then a mother in Alaska, and have just relocated back to Oregon where we hope to settle and raise our children (and some critters and gardens as well!) I've seen God work through me through his amazing wild world and feel honored to exist in the Creator's beautiful, natural creation. I want to allow my kids to experience this as well and learn from all natures complexities and simplicity. Adventures from the wilds of Alaska to great storybooks await! All photos are mine and copyrighted unless otherwise specified. Hope you enjoy!